Expensing conference tickets abroad?

J

jimmeboy

Registered User
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Hello,

Our company is looking to attend a large event/conference (related to our industry) which is being held in Sydney, Australia later in the year.

Tickets to the event are around €300 each and with flights to Sydney being close to €1000 a ticket the costs for attending the event are quite substantial.

I was wondering what the rules are regarding claiming the above mentioned costs as deductible company expenses. Can this be treated as a legitimate company expense for tax purposes?

We will also be seeking professional advice from our accountant, however it would be great to have some discussion points before meeting with the accountant.

Any help is much appreciated.
 
Why? It should be rather straightforward.
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We pay our accountant an annual fee - so we might as well utilise their expertise. Just thought it may be of use to have some thoughts from people from AAM before meeting with the accountant.

My main concern is where the line is drawn between something being a business expense and personal expense for such a trip and what the tax man would look for under audit to legitimise such an expense.
 
That's my point, its all about context (ie how good a fit is this conference to your company's business activities and objectives and does the cost/benefit analysis make economic sense for the company - if it doesnt the suspicion might be that it could be merely a junket for those travelling.

Your accountant will know an awful lot more about the context than anyone here, hence my puzzlement that you need to post here as well as talking to them.
 
I get the impression that there might be a couple of weeks on Bondi after the conference. Hence the concern.

If they arrive in Australia the day before and leave the day after - no issue.

Couple of weeks holidays more problematic.
 
Just to add to this - Revenue are taking a keen interest in travel expenses in my sector at present. A mate of mine was recently audited and was required to prove that the expenses he claimed for a trip to Copenhagen were solely for him to attend a conference and that his wife did not travel also.
 
Joe_90 said:
I get the impression that there might be a couple of weeks on Bondi after the conference. Hence the concern.

If they arrive in Australia the day before and leave the day after - no issue.

Couple of weeks holidays more problematic.
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You are right, there could potentially be an additional week pinned to the end of the trip but obviously this will need to be apportioned to "personal" travel. E.g. acommodation, food etc for this "personal" time not claimed as business expenses.

How would one determine the "business" portion of the trip if some "personal" time was included during the time away from home? My main concern would be how the flights would be treated...
 
Price the flights as if you were travelling to the conference, then price the flights with the longer time period. Keep records of both. If the flights are cheaper when you return later then you have no issue, if the flights are more expensive for the longer stay the difference in cost is a personal expense and not a business expense.

If you keep records of the cost of both options then you have the paperwork to back it up.
 
The business rule is 'wholly and exclusively' but not necessarily. Make of that what you will but it does not mean cheapest v dearest.
 
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